CHICAGO — Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dwyane Wade poured cold water on his hometown return, claiming he wasn’t playing with any extra motivation while facing the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.

“Nothing extra,” Wade said. “No statements, no story lines.”

Wade might not have bought into it after the Cavs ran their NBA-best winning streak to 12, but his play suggested it. Wade shared a game-high 24 points with Kevin Love, and it came on just 9 of 13 from the field. He slashed through a Bulls defense spread thin for fear of the Cavs’ three-point shooting and feasted around the elbow, like he’s done his whole career. Switched onto Chicago’s Cris Felicio, Wade showed no mercy on the third-year center.

“He wanted to play well,” Cavs coach Ty Lue said. “Coming back home, he’s from Chicago, his family is here, his friends are here. He wanted to play well.”

After just three games with the Cavs this season following a buyout from the Bulls, Wade knew it wasn’t working as a starter. He was averaging less than six points and admitted he didn’t feel a part of the offense with stalwarts LeBron James and Love. The 12-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer went to his coach and requested he come off the bench even though, he guesses, he hadn’t come off the bench since fourth grade. And that, Wade recalled, was only because he was playing among sixth graders.

“I haven’t done it in a long time and I was a little concerned about how, more so than anything, how my 35-year-old body was going to adjust to it,” he said on Monday morning. “I’m so used to trying to start games and get it going.”

Wade has spearheaded a Cavs second unit that has been instrumental in the Cavs’ winning streak, which is one shy of tying a franchise record. Since the streak started Nov. 11, the Cavs’ bench unit is fifth in the NBA in scoring (42.3 points), seventh in field goal percentage (46.9) and fourth in plus/minus (5.9).

“That’s kind of his unit,” Lue said. “He kind of runs and controls that unit.”

Though Wade has played the leading role, guys like Kyle Korver and Jeff Green deserve a ton of credit for the unit's effectiveness. Korver, shooting 44% on three-pointers, adds all kinds of space for Wade to roam inside the arc, while Green gives the Cavs another scoring option and another player for defenses to worry about.

"I'm getting a lot of space to do my stuff, to kind of work," Wade said. "I think one play I had it at the top of the key and I dribbled it through my legs slowly like six times and there was no help."

All of his success — Wade is sixth in scoring (12.9 points) among players with at least 10 games coming off the bench — has generated mild Sixth Man of the Year chatter.

“I’m a little uncomfortable with all the sixth man talk because I’m out there with a great unit and we all are helping this team be better,” Wade joked. “Kyle is the No. 1 plus-minus guy on this team, so maybe he’s sixth man of the year.”

Regardless of accolades, Lue’s formula, which takes significant buy-in from a player of Wade’s credentials, is working.

“That’s always a luxury to have (a strong bench),” Love told USA TODAY Sports. “Either continue to pour it on or bring you back into the game. The second unit … we wouldn’t have a 12-game winning streak if it weren’t for them.”